Baggage liability

For travel within or between the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, United's liability for any form of damage as a result of loss, damage or delay in delivery of a customer's personal property shall be limited to the fair market value at the time of loss, damage or delay and will not exceed $3,500.00 USD/CAD per customer, except for wheelchairs and other assistive devices.

For international travel to which the Warsaw Convention applies (including domestic* portions of international travel), United's liability is limited to approximately $9.07 USD/CAD per pound up to $640.00 USD/CAD per bag for checked baggage and $400.00 USD/CAD per customer for unchecked baggage.

For international travel to which the Montreal Convention applies (including domestic* portions of international travel), United's liability is limited to 1,131 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) per customer for checked and unchecked baggage. Exchange rates are available online at imf.org.

When checking baggage for a flight, a customer may declare a higher value than the maximum limit of liability. See Excess Valuation for additional details. Note that declaration of a higher value may not be allowed for some items.

Avoid packing high-value, fragile or perishable items in your checked baggage. For domestic* travel, United is not liable for loss, damage or delay in delivery of high-value, fragile or perishable items. See Fragile and Perishable Items for detailed listings of excluded items. For international travel, United's liability is limited as per above.

Though United carefully handles and transports our customers' luggage, your checked baggage may show evidence of wear based on normal handling. If you believe United damaged your checked baggage, please review this page to see how to report your claim. Damaged baggage cannot be reported via email or through the website.

United is not liable for the destruction, loss or damage of any baggage caused by:

Inherent defect of baggage

Poor quality of baggage

Baggage being over-packed

Ordinary wear and tear

Footnotes

*Domestic travel includes travel within or between the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.